Fairfax County residents say they're struggling to sleep during Metro shutdown

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (FOX 5 DC) -- The summer Metro shutdown has thousands of people struggling to get to work, while others are struggling to get to sleep.

Some who live near the Huntington Metro Station in Fairfax County say late-night construction noise has been unbearable.

A video taken from the Midtown Alexandria Condominiums shows workers with jackhammers. The iPhone time stamp is 12:53 a.m. Saturday and neighbors confirm they heard the noise at that time.

There was loud jackhammer noise past 11 p.m. Monday when FOX 5 was live outside the station.

"It's been especially rough because I have a six-month-old infant and we face the track where the work is actually going on," said Denise Brain. "And when they are drilling in the metal rail there's actually no place in the apartment where you don't hear the noise."

Metro has shut down the six stations south of Reagan National Airport all summer long, until September 8, for a project that will repair metro station platforms. The stations closed are Braddock Rd., King St., Eisenhower Ave., Van Dorn St., Franconia-Springfield and Huntington.

People who live in the area have been trying to figure out whether the late night noise is allowed especially considering Fairfax County has a noise ordinance that prohibits outdoor construction after 9 p.m.

Metro said Monday that it has a 24/7 exemption from that ordinance, but only for track work.

"We're actually shocked by it," said Howard Van, who also lives near the Huntington station. "We were expecting more like an orderly, calm, basic construction timeframe, but now it's 24 hours a day."

Metro provided a statement to FOX 5 saying:

"This summer, Metro and its contractors are employing an aggressive construction strategy to rehabilitate station platforms and other rail infrastructure along the Blue and Yellow Lines south of Reagan National Airport Station. The project schedule requires the ability to work around the clock in order to complete the work on the quickest possible timetable and return train service at the end of summer. This includes shifts working around the clock at some work sites. Nighttime work may involve concrete sawcutting and jackhammering activities for periods of time, both of which will generate noise. We are working to execute this project as quickly and efficiently as possible, and regret any inconvenience caused by the work."